226: Chapter 226 The Awkwardness of the Morning and the Mother-in-Law's Compromise

The first ray of morning light was like a thin needle, piercing through the gap in the curtains.

Qin Susu's eyelashes fluttered as her consciousness slowly rose from the abyss of chaos.

The headache of a hangover didn't appear; instead, it was replaced by a hollowed-out weakness. She moved her fingers and touched rough cotton sheets, while her nose was filled with an undeniable, overbearing, and scorching masculine scent.

This scent was like a branding iron, searing the absurd, shameful, and crazy memories of last night back into her brain, frame by frame.

She snapped her eyes open.

What met her eyes was an unfamiliar ceiling and... the rumpled black silk camisole she was wearing.

And she was lying in Wang Fugui's bed.

"Boom—"

Blood rushed to her head, and Qin Susu's face instantly turned bright red.

She sprang up from the bed as if stung by a scorpion, grabbing the quilt and wrapping herself tightly in it.

That man's rough "massage," her own uncontrollable moans, and her daughter's sleep-talking from next door... scene after scene played repeatedly in her mind like the most vicious curse.

She, Qin Susu, a woman who had spent half her life commanding the winds and clouds in the capital, was actually in a rural youth's bed because of his crude "massage," and...

Shame, humiliation, regret... various emotions gnawed at her heart like poisonous snakes.

Yet beneath this boundless shame, deep within her body, there damnedly remained a trace of the ultimate relaxed afterglow from being washed over by that surge of pure yang vital energy.

It was an aftertaste that made her feel both terrified and disgusted with herself.

Just as she wished she could find a hole to crawl into, there was a "click" as the door was pushed open.

Wang Fugui walked in carrying a stainless steel basin larger than his own face.

In the basin was a small mountain of noodles, topped with ten golden-fried, glistening poached eggs, steaming hot and fragrant.

He was shirtless, wearing only a pair of large floral boxers. Seeing Qin Susu sitting on the bed, a simple and honest smile appeared on his blunt face as he spoke boisterously:

"Auntie, you're awake? Your stomach doesn't hurt anymore, right?"

He set the basin down heavily on the nightstand with a loud "clatter."

"My mother said that if your stomach catches a cold, you need to eat some hot soup noodles to sweat it out. I had the kitchen add ten extra poached eggs for you to nourish your body. Quick, eat while it's hot!"

Auntie...

Stomach ache...

Nourish the body...

Every word was like a poison-tipped blade, accurately stabbing into Qin Susu's riddled self-esteem.

She looked at Wang Fugui's clear yet stupid eyes, and his "I cured you, so thank me" expression, nearly grinding her silver teeth to pieces.

She wanted to scream, to dump this basin of noodles onto his stupid face.

But she couldn't do it.

Because as Wang Fugui approached, that masculine scent already etched into her genes enveloped her again. Her body's memory was more honest than her reason. She even felt her calves starting to go weak.

"I'm... not hungry," Qin Susu squeezed out three words through her teeth, her voice hoarse and dry.

She threw back the quilt and scrambled off the bed, not even having time to put on slippers, wanting only to escape this suffocating space immediately.

She pulled open the door and rushed out barefoot.

In the hallway.

Chen Yun was holding a glass of warm water, preparing to wake Lin Xiaocao up.

Just as she reached Wang Fugui's door, she saw it suddenly pulled open.

Qin Susu's clothes were a mess, her hair disheveled, her face bearing a sickly flush and unmistakable panic as she ran out barefoot.

The two of them locked eyes.

The air seemed to freeze for a second.

Chen Yun's gaze lingered for a moment on Qin Susu's skimpy silk camisole, then swept over the suspicious red mark on her neck.

She said nothing.

Only the corners of her mouth slowly curled into a meaningful arc, filled with playfulness and understanding.

It was the smile of a victor.

Condescending, yet carrying a hint of quiet pity.

Qin Susu's heart was completely pierced by that look.

She understood everything in that smile: See? You, this high-and-mighty noblewoman, didn't you end up just like me, a captive of this man?

Her last shred of feigned strength collapsed completely.

Qin Susu's face turned pale as ash. Like a defeated peacock, she lowered her head and fled back to her room with unsteady steps.

...

First-floor dining room.

The atmosphere was eerie to the extreme.

Lin Xiaocao sat at the dining table, looking at her mother with concern: "Mom, why do you look so pale? Did you not sleep well last night?"

Qin Susu held a cup of coffee, her fingers trembling slightly from the force of her grip. She didn't even dare to look up into her daughter's innocent eyes.

Her peripheral vision was fixed dead ahead.

Wang Fugui had his face buried in that stainless steel basin, making loud "slurping" sounds like a water pump at full power, frantically inhaling the noodles with ten poached eggs.

He was eating until he was covered in sweat, his mouth glistening with oil, showing no trace of high-society table manners.

But it was this crude man who, last night...

Qin Susu felt a wave of suffocation.

She had to leave this place immediately, the further away from this devilish man the better!

To hide the overwhelming turmoil in her heart, she slammed down her coffee cup with a sharp clink, forcing her voice to sound calm and authoritative:

"Ahem... Little Grass."

Lin Xiaocao and Chen Yun, who was elegantly drinking milk nearby, both looked over.

"I've thought it through," Qin Susu took a deep breath, using almost all her strength to announce word by word, "From now on... I won't control you anymore. You and... and him... I no longer oppose your relationship."

"Really? Mom!" Lin Xiaocao's eyes widened in surprise, and she grabbed Qin Susu's hand.

Wang Fugui also looked up at this moment, half a poached egg still stuffed in his mouth, asking indistinctly, "What's going on?"

Qin Susu's body stiffened abruptly, and she quickly turned her head away, completely unable to meet his eyes.

"Fugui, my mom agreed to us being together!" Lin Xiaocao explained excitedly.

"Oh," Wang Fugui grunted in response, then lowered his head to continue dealing with the noodles in his bowl. "I didn't think she could oppose it for long anyway."

This sentence made Qin Susu's blood pressure soar again.

Just then, Chen Yun, who had been silent, set down her milk glass.

"President Qin, since you no longer oppose it, then we are one family." She spoke with a smile, but instantly steered the conversation in another direction. "There is something we might need your help with, as a 'family member.'"

Chen Yun laid out her and Wang Fugui's plan—Shengfa Garment Factory was preparing for a complete transformation, cutting all low-end OEM work to go all-in on high-end brands and foreign trade markets.

"...We can handle design and production, but right now, there are two critical issues." Chen Yun's gaze fell on Qin Susu's face. "First, we need at least fifty million in startup capital to update equipment and open up the supply chain. Second, we need a stable and efficient overseas channel to open up the ports in Shenzhen."

This was Chen Yun's true goal.

What she wanted was not just a verbal agreement from Qin Susu, but a solid binding of interests.

Qin Susu was incredibly shrewd and instantly understood Chen Yun's intention.

This woman was forcing her onto the boat!

If it were yesterday, Qin Susu would have certainly scoffed at it.

But now...

She only wanted to use money to buy back her dignity and exchange it for the right to flee this place.

Without the slightest hesitation, she took her checkbook and pen out of her Hermès bag, not even asking a single question about the factory's profit prospects.

"Scribble, scribble—"

She signed a string of numbers with a flourish, tore off the check, and slapped it on the table like throwing away a piece of scrap paper.

"Fifty million, is that enough?"

Her voice carried a sense of desperate resolve.

Chen Yun picked up the check, glanced at the numbers, and her smile became even more sincere: "President Qin is indeed straightforward. Then the second problem..."

"Capital is easy to find, but channels are hard to come by." Qin Susu picked up her coffee to hide her loss of composure. "The largest Golden Beach freight terminal in Shenzhen is currently controlled by a woman nicknamed 'Second Mother Sai.' This person... has deep roots and is a tough nut to crack."

Hearing this, Chen Yun frowned slightly: "We've contacted her, but she refused, and her attitude was very firm. I heard... she extremely dislikes men."

"It's more than just dislike," Qin Susu sneered, her tone carrying the specific disdain of someone from the capital's inner circles. "She's a famous iron lesbian; she's slept with more women than you've ever seen."

"Then it will be difficult," Chen Yun said, looking troubled. For a woman immune to men, Wang Fugui's greatest "advantage" seemed useless.

The entire dining room fell into a brief silence.

Only the sound of Wang Fugui slurping his noodles continued.

Holding her coffee cup, Qin Susu's gaze uncontrollably drifted once more toward the back of the man who was buried in his food, a back as broad as a mountain.

In her mind, that overbearing heat from last night, those rough yet scorching hands, and that masculine aura enough to make any female creature's genes tremble, surged again.

Her eyes became extremely complex, and she subconsciously tightened her grip on the cup, murmuring in a voice only she could hear:

"That damn lesbian Second Mother Sai..."

"...If she ran into him, she'd probably go crazy too."